Father Arul Carasala speaks with parishioners at St. Columbkille Church in Blaine before Mass recently. The native of India has come to the United States to help fill rural parishes that need priests.

St. Columbkille Church in Blaine stands landmark on Kansas route 99. The parish used to also have a school.

People attend the annual Soup Supper and Auction at St. Bede Church in Kelly. The annual fundraiser garners around $17,000 to support the parish.

Due to unseasonably cold weather, people wait inside the sanctuary for entrance to the soup supper at St. Bede's.

People enter into the church for the soup supper. St. Bede Church stands as a beacon on a hill in Kelly.

Four rural parishes united by faith – served by one priest

By Paula Glover
It is missionary work. Only in reverse.
Father Arul Carasala, a native of India, is one of 18 foreign-born priests in the Archdiocese of Kansas City who have come to the United States to help serve in the Roman Catholic Church.
Father Carasala, from the Diocese of Cuddapah, originally came to the archdiocese as part of his mission appeal on behalf of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, based in Kansas.
“India was a mission country,” he said. “India is rich with pastoral ministries. Now it is time to help those in need in the United States.”
It is a trend common to most Catholic dioceses in the U.S. – countries where there are more priests than needed come to serve, sometimes specific immigrant populations, but sometimes, just to serve as a parish priest where otherwise, there might be no priest.
“I stayed four months and liked it here, liked the people, and found that the people liked me,” Father Carasala recalled. He spoke with his bishop at home and received permission to come and help out in the archdiocese and arrived in 2004. In addition to serving at four parishes, he continues appeals for the orphanage during the summer.
Father Carasala serves four rural parishes north east of Manhattan – St. Patrick in Corning; St. Vincent de Paul in Onaga; St. Columbkille in Blaine; and St. Bede in Kelly.
“This rural life is not what I grew up with,” he said. “It was a big cultural change for me. The food is different, the English accent is different, the driving is different … but the Mass is the same, unifying element all over the world.”
Father Carasala had stopped for a quick break amid the festivities of the annual parish soup supper and auction at St. Bede Church in Kelly. St. Bede towers over the Flint Hills like a beacon, and it is a beacon of faith for the 150 church members.
The night of the festival, Oct. 11, was so cold the hundreds of people who came for the festivities waited in the church sanctuary before the meal.
Fred and Kim Henry grew up in the area. The soup supper “shows a lot of spirit,” said Kim Henry. “Everybody knows everybody. People understand that faith is what keeps us strong.”
Janet Hermeach, a member of the church for all of her “50 plus” years said more people are returning to the parish because they want a rural lifestyle.
The Catholic parishes in the area are going strong, she said, pointing to the Kelly Youth Rally, held just after the school starts, which draws around 500 youth.
With one priest and four parishes, there is one Mass at each parish on the weekend and the schedule rotates quarterly, with two having Saturday evening Mass and two having Sunday morning Mass. It can be a little confusing when the schedule changes, but keeps it fair for each parish. Although there is one priest serving the four parishes, the parishes remain separate, with their own pastoral councils.
Kellie O’Shea, a parishioner at St. Columbkille in Blaine, noted that the 50 member families “pull together as a community to keep the parish alive. Each family contributes and we have a strong Knights of Columbus,” (the Catholic men’s organization). Although, as is the case throughout the United States, the parish school has been closed, students still come to the parish for religious instruction.
“I’m glad to have a priest who can come and say Mass,” said Michael Finan, who was born and raised in the Blaine area.
“The word catholic means universal,” said Father Brian Schieber, a priest at Most Pure Heart of Mary in Topeka, and the vicar for priests for the archdiocese. “The international priests bring the richness and diversity of the Catholic Church and we see the universality of the Church; whether Indian, African, or from the United States, we are all part of the same Church.” There are around 130 priests in the archdiocese, Father Schieber said. The international priests in the archdiocese mainly come from India, Korea, Ghana and South America.
With an upswing in the numbers of men studying for the priesthood, the use of foreign-born priests to help keep smaller parishes open could be just a temporary solution. “It has been a blessing to have these priests here,” Father Schieber said.
“We feel particularly blessed to have Father Arul,” Father Schieber said. “He’s been a great friend and has integrated into the presbyterate (the group of all the priests.) The archbishop is very grateful he is here.”

This story appeared in the Manhattan Mercury, Oct.23/24 issue.